Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

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The day of ahmed's secret

Heide, Florence Parry//Gilliland, Judith Heide

Ahmed has a secret which he keeps all day long. Tonight he will tell his secret to his family but first he has work to do. Ahmed works in the loud and crowded city. The sights and lovely sounds fill his day while he works. When at last he has done all of his work, he can reveal his secret.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, bodies of water, bus, camel, car, careers, community, critical thinking, decision making, desert, dog, donkey, egyptian, family, food, multicultural, nutrition, parents, river, transportation, truck, verbal communication, weather

The crayon box that talked

DeRolf, Shane

While walking through a toy store, a little girl overhears a box of crayons arguing. Yellow and green don't like red and no one likes orange, but for no apparent reason. After buying the box of crayons, she takes them home and begins to draw a picture. Using every color in the box, the little girl created a picture. As she completed her drawing and began to walk away, she heard the crayons resolve their hatred and realize the beauty they make when they all work together.

Tags

argument, beauty, clouds, colors, community, conflict, diversity, friendship, opinions, relationship, resolution, walking

The cow who fell in the canal

Krasilovsky, Phyllis

Hendrika is a cow on a farm in Holland. Bored with her everyday routine, Hendrika longs to see the city. One day, she gets that chance and stirs up a lot of commotion in the city.

Tags

adventures, animals, appreciation, community, cow, dutch, farm, feelings, happiness, multicultural, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, sadness, self esteem

The city country a b c

Walters, M.

A child locates items alphabetically in a city and country as he takes a walk.

Tags

alphabet, community, critical thinking, decision making, exercise, nature, sequence, walking

The cherry tree

McCaughrean, Geraldine

A family tries to recuperate after a war in which they lose their father and their home. The children meet and help an old man take care of a sickly cherry tree. As the tree grows and begins to blossom, so does the village and its people.

The chanukkah tree

Kimmel, Eric A.

The citizens of Chelm are tricked by a salesman selling Christmas trees. All the citzens of Chelm are Jewish and celebrate Hanukkah. The salesman tells them that Hanukkah trees are the latest trend in America. They believe him, buy the tree, and find out they were tricked. The citizens make the best of it by continuing the Hanukkah tree for the birds to enjoy.

Tags

birds, celebration, closeness, community, deception, disappointment, goal setting, hanukkah, hard work, holidays, Jewish, multicultural, snow, teamwork, weather

The carp in the bathtub

Cohen, Barbara

Leah and Henry want to save the carp that their mom will want to cook for dinner. They try to hide the carp in the tub and also in a bucket. Their dad explains that fish are for eating so he gives them a cat as a pet.

Tags

animals, cat, community, fish, food, holidays, Jewish, multicultural, nutrition, passover, pets, shelter, traditions

The bus ride

Miller, William

Sara stands up for justice on her city bus. Sara gets tired of sitting in the African American section of the bus. Sara does not undertsand why she does not have the same rights as the white Americans, so she takes a stand to change that law.

Tags

african american, america, anger, author's note, body parts, bus, car, change, community, courage, crowd, discrimination, equality, feelings, freedom, heroism, hunger, justice, law, money, newspaper, parents, pride, school, segregation, support, transportation

The brownstone

Scher, Paula

Six animal families live in an apartment building together. They switch apartments several times in order to make each other happy with their neighbors and to make a better living community.

Tags

animals, change, community, compromise, critical thinking, decision making, moving, nature, neighbors, problem solving, shelter, teamwork

The boy who would not say his name

Vreeken, Elizabeth

Bobby Brown liked to pretend he was other characters in a story, so he always used a character's name when someone asked him his name. One day he got lost and people could not find his family, so finally he said his real name.

Tags

community, conflict resolution, decision making, family, identity, imagination, lost, nonverbal communication, pretend, refusal skills, self esteem, verbal communication

The boy who would be a hero

Lewis, Marjorie

A boy grows up in a small village and trains to be a hero. After growing up he leaves the village to become a hero, but instead of rescuing a princess he is caught by a witch. He outwits the witch and returns to the village to be a farmer.

Tags

accomplishment, assertiveness, careers, challenges, cleanliness, community, conflict resolution, courage, critical thinking, determination, family, hygiene, mythical, parents, problem solving, storytelling, success, witches

The boy who ate around the world

Drescher, Henrick

Mo thinks his dinner is lizard guts and worms when it is really string beans and cheese souffle. He decides to become a monster and eat around it. Mo eats everything in sight including his parents and the world. When Mo becomes lonely he decides to spit out all that he ate so he can have his parents and friends back.

Tags

community, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, family, food, hunger, imagination, loneliness, monsters, neighbors, nutrition, overeating, parents, pretend, verbal communication

The boy of the tree-year nap

Snyder, Dianne

The laziest boy in the village naps and daydreams instead of working. One day, a rich man and his daughter move into the town and the lazy boy begins to devise a plan to become rich without working. In the end, the boy is rich, but not the way he wanted.

Tags

careers, community, deception, laziness, responsibilities, sleep

The boats on the river

Flack, Marjorie

There are many, many different kinds of boats that float down the river. The river comes from the mountains, by the city, and out to the sea.

Tags

boat, bodies of water, community, fog, mountains, river, sea, transportation, weather

The blizzard's robe

Sabuda, Robert

The robe of the Blizzard lays over the land, bringing ice and darkness to everything it touches. But what would happen if one young girl destroyed the robe?Teune felt it was her duty to restore the robe she has destroyed. Will she be rewarded for her help or punished for bringing back the cold?In the end, Teune's efforts helps the People Who Fear the Winter Night to be remembered as the People of the Northern Lights.

Tags

appreciation, arctic, art, careers, change, clothing, colors, community, decision making, dreams, eskimo, guilt, light, native american, nonverbal communication, sky, snow, stars, verbal communication, winter

The biggest pumpkin ever

Kroll, Steven

Two mice fall in love with the same pumpkin and each one waters it, fertilizes it, and protects it from the frost. The pumpkin grows into the biggest pumpkin ever, wins the town contest, and is made into a jack-o-lantern that can be seen for miles.

Tags

animals, community, competition, compromise, conflict resolution, decision making, feelings, friendship, garden, mouse, plants, pride, water, weather

The biggest birthday cake

Spurr, Elizabeth

The richest and fattest man in the world wants the biggest cake for his birthday. He only thinks of himself and ignores the young children in the village. He finally learns what it means to be rich.

Tags

birthday, celebration, community, food, greed, happiness, holidays, kindness, nutrition, overeating

The big pile of dirt

Clymer, Eleanor

Several children in the city find that they have nowhere to play. They have to play in a big pile of dirt in an empty lot. Finally, the mayor builds a park for the kids in the empty lot to play in.

Tags

assertiveness, community, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, friendship, imagination, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, self esteem, verbal communication

The big orange splot

Pinkwater, Daniel

Mr. Plumbean and all of his neighbors are comfortable with their ordinary street. When faced with a change, Mr. Plumbean uses this time as a way to be original, no matter what others think.

Tags

assertiveness, change, community, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, decision making, differences, dreams, feelings, neighbors, peer resistance, refusal skills, self esteem, verbal communication

The big concrete lorry

Hughes, Shirley

The Patterson's house is too small for them, but they cannot afford a larger home. Mr. Patterson decides to build an extension onto the house himself. When the concrete lorry delivers the concrete before it was expected, the neighborhood joins together to build the room.

Tags

assertiveness, community, conflict resolution, cooperation, critical thinking, decision making, family, goal setting, helping, neighbors, nonverbal communication, shelter, teamwork

The big cheese of third street

Anderson, Halse Laurie

Little Benny is bullied constantly for being so little. It isn't until he wins the pole challenge that everyone cheers and honors Benny.

Tags

bully, celebration, challenges, climbing, community, family, flood, games, music, neighbors, party, play, river, siblings, swimming, teasing, violence

The bee tree

Polacco, Patricia

A little girl is bored with reading. Her grandpa takes her on a chase which leads to a honey tree. The whole town goes with them and enjoys the honey with biscuits and tea. Grandpa uses the chase to teach his granddaughter that adventure, wisdom and knowledge must be pursued and can be found in books just as easily.

Tags

adventures, bee, beverage, books, community, conflict resolution, exercise, family, food, goal setting, grandparents, insects, learning, nature, nutrition, reading

The beautiful christmas tree

Zolotow, Charlotte

Mr. Crockett moved into a new apartment. Before Mr. Crockett moved in, the apartment was run down, but Mr. Crockett worked hard to make the apartment beautiful. His neighbors did not appreciate his hard work or planted tree. The neighbors thought it was ugly, but years passed and Mr. Crockett's tree grew and his neighbors enjoyed it.

Tags

acceptance, aging, autumn, birds, bluejay, canary, cardinal, change, christmas, community, differences, dove, environment, flowers, friendship, hard work, holidays, neighbors, nonverbal communication, pride, robin, seasons, self esteem, spring, summer, tree, uniqueness, winter

The bear on the moon

Ryder, Joanne

A polar bear wonders about the deep sea and the lights in the sky. Her curiosity leads her to explore the mystery of the moon, and bring some of it back to her friends which helps explain why the polar bears came to live on ice and snow.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, bear, bodies of water, community, courage, decision making, friendship, goal setting, imagination, independence, moon, nonverbal communication, sea, self esteem, snow, weather

The bakers dozen

Forest, Heather

Jan Van Amsterdam is a well known baker. People travel from all over to buy his goods. When he begins to get greedy, he starts to use less ingredients in his cookies. When a woman asks for a bakers dozen, he only gives her 12 She puts a curse on him and his baked goods. When he finally realizes that a bakers dozen is 13, the curse is broken.

Tags

author's note, careers, celebration, christmas, community, deception, folktale, food, greed, holidays, magic, nutrition, poverty, seasons, winter

The araboolies of liberty street

Swope, Sam

A neighborhood is controlled by a mean man and woman who will not let anything fun happen. Soon the Araboolies move in and everything changes.

Tags

assertiveness, change, community, conflict resolution, cooperation, coping, critical thinking, decision making, family, friendship, fun, multicultural, neighbors, refusal skills

Texas star

Cole, Barbara Hancock

Cold winter weather is coming, so Mama decides to have a quilting party even though Papa does not think another quilt is needed. When the snow comes and the family cuddles under the quilt, Papa admits maybe another quilt was needed.

Tags

community, family, food, friendship, helping, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, party, seasons, self esteem, siblings, snow, teamwork, verbal communication, weather, winter

Tap-dance fever

Brisson, Pat

Annabelle Applegate had Tap-dance fever. Her feet are constantly on the move, tapping everywhere she goes. The townsfolk are very aggrevated by her dancing. However, once tourists come to hear and see her tao-dance with the rattlesnakes, the townsfolk believe she was an asset to the community.

Tags

anger, animals, business, community, dancing, exercise, feelings, happiness, mischief, performance, persistence, rhythm, snake, success, wealth

Sweet dried apples: A vietnamese wartime childhood

Breckler, Rosemary

It is wartime in Vietnam, and a little girl who lives in the country is faced with the prospect of her father leaving for the army. Her father, the village herb doctor, comes to stay with them until he dies. Their village is bombed and the little girl and her family must flee Vietnam.

Tags

change, community, death, grandparents, language, loss, market, plants, siblings, travel, vietnamese, war

Sweet dream pie

Wood, Audrey//Teague, Mark

Mouths on Willobee Street start to water when the aroma of the Brindle's Sweet Dream Pie fills the air. But does Sweet Dream Pie really create sweet dreams?

Tags

animals, bedtime, cat, community, cooking, dreams, food, helping, neighbors, nutrition, overeating, recipe, weather

Stone soup

Brown, Marcia

Three hungry soldiers walk down the road. They stop at several houses to ask for food, but nobody has any extra to share. One of the soldiers tricks the townspeople and says he can make stone soup. By the time the soup is finished, all of the townspeople contribute some type of food to the soup.

Tags

community, deception, folktale, food, nutrition, sharing, teamwork

Stitch by stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS memorial quilt

Sanders, Rob

Cleve Jones was an advocate for gay rights and showed support for his community through volunteering, protesting, and creating artwork. As a part of his work, Cleve made the NAME Project AIDS Memorial Quilt to recognize and remember members of the LGBTQ+ community who lost their lives to this disease. This project shows the interconnectedness of a suffering community and the importance of staying together to fight for what is right.

Tags

aids, author's note, bully, change, community, courage, discrimination, diseases, emotions, glossary, government, health, history, homosexuality, law, love, memories, monuments, numbers, politics, sequence, sewing, sexuality, symbols, time

Stella louella's runaway book

Ernst, Lisa Campbell

Stella Louella cannot seem to find her library book that is due at 5:00 All day, she tracks down its whereabouts along with others in the community who have seen the book along its trip. Find out where the book ends up.

Tags

books, chaos, community, conflict, conflict resolution, disappearance, family, feelings, helping, library, lost, neighbors, parents, relief, responsibilities, time, worry

Springtime in a noisy village

Lindgren, Astrid

Some children live in a little, simple village. They all play together and resolve any little conflicts. They watch out for one another.

Tags

animals, community, conflict resolution, five senses, friendship, noise, play, seasons, self esteem, sounds, spring, verbal communication

Speak English for us, Marisol!

English, Karen

Marisol is anxious to get home from school to see if she has new kittens or not. Unfortunately she is delayed by relatives and friends that stop Marisol for a favor, to speak or translate English. She happily complies and solves everyone's problems and is rewarded with her mother's love and pride.

Tags

animals, appreciation, assertiveness, cat, community, conflict resolution, english, family, helping, language, market, neighbors, parents, spanish, technology, telephone, verbal communication

Spaghetti eddie

SanAngelo, Ryan

Eddie loves spaghetti. He eats it all the time. While running an errand for his mother, Eddie helps several neighbors by using his spaghetti noodles as a shoestring, a fishing net, and guitar strings. Eddie even stops a robber with a meat ball.

Tags

bravery, celebration, community, critical thinking, family, food, friendship, giving, instruments, kindness, neighbors, nutrition, party, self esteem

Somewhere in Africa

Mennen, Ingrid//Daly, Niki

A boy named Ashraf lives in a city in South Africa. He compares the city to the countryside of Africa.

Tags

africa, african, assertiveness, body parts, books, community, comparisons, critical thinking, dancing, differences, flowers, geography, imagination, instruments, library, multicultural, music, rhyme, song

Something queer is going on

Levy, Elizabeth

Jill's dog Fletcher is not on the front steps when Jill arrives home from school, so Jill and her friend Gwen search the neighborhood for Fletcher. They believe Mr. Fernbach has Fletcher and convince Jill's mother to follow Mr. Fernbach to his studios. Fletcher is found in the studios where he is being used in a dog food commercial.

Something beautiful

Wyeth, Sharon Dennis

A little girl looks out her window only to see broken glass and trash in the court yard. She remembers her mother once told her everyone should have something beautiful. She sets out to look for something beautiful in her neighborhood.

Someday a tree

Bunting, Eve

A family has a beautiful tree in their yard which becomes poisoned and dies. The young daughter plants her acorns in hopes of a new tree growing someday.

Tags

caring, community, dedication, environment, memories, nature, neighbors, stress management

Solomon grundy

Hoguet, Susan Ramsay

The life of Solomon Grundy is described from birth to death. He was born on Monday and died on Sunday.

Tags

community, death, family, feelings, nonverbal communication

So far from the sea

Bunting, Eve

Laura and her family are moving, so they are coming to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center one last time. Years ago, this center was used to house anyone living in the United States that were of Japanese descent. These people were forced to leave their homes and come to the center because Japan bombed the United States. The center is bare now except for all of the memories and the cemetary, including her grandfather's grave.

Tags

acceptance, airplane, american, anger, anticipation, assertiveness, author's note, awareness, bias, bravery, change, citizen, cold, community, conflict, confusion, critical thinking, crow, culture, death, differences, discrimination, diversity, family, fear, feelings, flowers, forgiveness, generations, ghosts, grandparents, growing up, history, illness, japanese, loss, memories, monuments, mountains, moving, prison, sea, sky, snow, survival, verbal communication, war

Smoky night

Bunting, Eve

A riot breaks out in a young boys neighborhood which leads to his apartment building catching on fire. This tragedy brings together people from different backgrounds when they share in the trauma of both losing their cats and having their homes taken over by fire.

Tags

animals, cat, community, conflict, conflict resolution, death, destruction, fire, forgiveness, loss

Sister Anne's hands

Lorbiecki, Mary Beth

Anna begins her second year of school in the early '60's. Her new teacher, Sister Anne, is different from other teachers because she has a different skin color. She inspires students all around her and overcomes challenges. Students learn what respect and tolerance are, and everyone learns from one another.

Tags

acceptance, african american, appearance, art, beach, bedtime, body parts, challenges, change, colors, community, counting, differences, discrimination, diversity, garden, god, history, learning, library, map, memories, moving, multicultural, numbers, prejudice, racism, religion, rhythm, school, singing, stereotypes, storytelling, teaching

Silly sally

Wood, Audrey

On the way to town, Silly Sally gets sidetracked by a dancing pig, a singing loon, a dog who wants to play leapfrog, and a sheep who wants to sleep. When Neddy Buttercup comes along, they all go to town.

Tags

animals, birds, community, dancing, dog, exercise, friendship, gymnastics, loon, pig, play, rhyme, sequence, sheep, song, sports, travel, walking

Shaker lane

Provensen, Alice//Provensen, Martin

Shaker Lane was built up when the Herkiner sisters sold off bits and pieces of land. The houses were old shacks. When the townspeople decide to build a dam on the land, the residents of Shaker Lane decide to leave rather than fight the battle.

Tags

change, community, critical thinking, decision making, moving, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, poverty, shelter, teamwork

Seven spools of thread

Medearis, Angela

Whether working on their family farm or eating dinner, the seven Ashanti brothers always fight amongst themselves to the dismay of their father. However, when their father passed away, the seven Ashanti brothers were tasked with creating gold from seven different color spools of thread. After completing this seemingly impossible task by working together, the brothers taught their community the value of the lessons they learned.

Tags

african, argument, author's note, colors, communication, community, culture, fable, farm, ghana, language, peace, problem solving, siblings, success, support, teamwork, vocabulary, weaving

Sergio and the hurricane

Wallner, Alexandra

A young boyﾒs family prepares for a hurricane in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At first, Sergio is excited, but after a whole day of getting ready for the storm, he falls asleep exhausted. The hurricane hits in the middle of the night so Sergio joins his parents in their bed, Papa tells him a story to ease his fears. For many weeks after the storm, the San Juan community clears the damage left by the wind and flooding. When school resumes, Sergioﾒs teacher gives a science lesson on hurricanes.

Tags

author's note, beach, bedtime, cleanliness, community, destruction, family, fear, feelings, flood, hurricane, maps, parents, plants, preparation, puerto rico, radio, safety, school, shopping, storm, storytelling, technology, television, tree, water, writing

Scornful simkin

Lorenz, Lee

A cheap miller steals wheat from people as they bring it to him. So two lads from Cambridge University set out to fool the miller.

Tags

careers, community, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, decision making, fear, feelings, food, goal setting, misbehavior, robbery, sly

Saturday Sancocho

Torres, Leyla

Chicken Sancocho is a traditional family meal for Maria Lili and her grandmother. When there is a shortage of ingredients, Maria Lili is determined to complete the meal.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, birds, cat, chicken, community, cooking, decision making, dog, family, food, fruit, goal setting, grandparents, market, money, numbers, recipe, sleep, trading, vegetables, verbal communication

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